Since he was a sophomore at Lenape High School, Terrell Riley aspired to be a cameraman for the National Football League. When he was 15, legendary NFL Films cameraman, Billy Driber came into the Riley family owned barbecue restaurant. On the wall was a picture of Terrell, holding a video camera. Driber asked who the young boy was, and after Terrell’s father told him his son’s story, Driber slipped Terrell’s father his card and said, “Have him call me.”

In life, we are lost if we cannot rely on each other for direction. And for Terrell, the road he has chosen in life has been shaped by the support from his family, friends, his faith, and his educational experiences at The Art Institute of Philadelphia. “I originally wanted to go to Syracuse University,” Terrell recalls, but “it was a long way from home, it was expensive, and it had a reputation of being one of the best schools in the country for video production. It was Billy Driber who told me I should go to The Art Institute of Philadelphia. He told me that I’d get a lot more hands-on experience than I would at Syracuse, where I might not even handle a camera until my junior or senior year.”

Terrell excelled at The Art Institute of Philadelphia. As part of his education, he began a semester-long internship with NFL Films in the fall of 2002. “The Art Institute prepared me for that experience,” he says. “I went to school with some of the best and brightest, and that helped me in such a competitive field as sports production.”

After graduating from The Art Institute of Philadelphia, Terrell was hired to work for FOX Sports. Terrell may have been young, but in Los Angeles, he quickly proved his industry savvy. During his first season, Terrell was named an associate producer on both the FOX NFL Pregame Show, as well as, the NASCAR Pre-Race Show. “When I first starred on NASCAR, I couldn’t understand how anybody could like it,” Terrell says. “But I went to my first race in Las Vegas in 2003. With the sounds and speed and the excitement I was hooked.”

In the winter of 2005, Terrell left FOX Sports to become a feature producer for NASCAR Images. “NASCAR Images is a lot like NFL Films was 20 years ago, it’s a challenging experience to help build a company. Its given me a chance to do the kind of projects I want to do, and it gives me a chance to do things that have never been done in NASCAR before. It’s given an opportunity to…shine.”

Terrell’s pioneering spirit has already had an impact on the sport. In July of 2005, Terrell produced a pair of music videos with the band Mr. Reeze & Jeff Lake. “Nothing like that has ever been done in NASCAR before,” says NASCAR Images senior producer Shawn Truax, who was once at NFL Films with Terrell. “What he‘s doing goes beyond racing. He’s helping to diversify a sport, he’s shifting NASCAR’s cultural identity. Terrell is a pioneer.”

For Terrell Riley, it’s been a long journey in a short period of time. But it still comes back to home and the lessons he learned at The Art Institute of Philadelphia. “The Art Institute of Philadelphia helped me understand what to expect”, Terrell says. “The instructors are in the industry, so they got me ready for what the business was going to be like. They prepared me to be where I am today.”